QUIRKY WORLD ... Cigarette-smoking chimp in US is no laughing matter for animal rights group

USA: An animal rights group is suing to get a chimpanzee named Candy out of an amusement park where, it says, she smokes cigarettes and is given soft drinks instead of water.

Candy is isolated in an inadequate cage at the Baton Rouge park, and should be moved to a sanctuary, according to the federal suit filed in Baton Rouge by the Animal Legal Defense Fund.

“Defendants have for decades allowed members of the general public to throw items into Candy’s cage, including lit cigarettes that Candy smokes. Just as with humans, cigarette smoking is very harmful for chimpanzees,” and letting her smoke violates the Endangered Species Act, the suit states.

The lawsuit is the first filed under a new federal rule that requires captive chimps get the same protection as wild chimps, said Carter Dillard, the group’s attorney. That rule, which was made public in June and took effect on September 14, changes captive chimps’ classification from threatened to endangered, the same classification as wild chimpanzee.

Off yer bike 

ENGLAND: A British teenager aiming to become the first person to unicycle around the world has temporarily suspended his adventure after a narrow escape from a car crash on an icy road in Kazakhstan.

The 19-year-old, who had left his Somerset home in March to begin his 28,968km one-wheeled adventure, had to leap for his life off his unicycle when a car spun out of control coming towards him.

He was uninjured and his unicycle suffered only minor damage, but the experience was enough to make him realise the danger of riding on one wheel across central Asia in the depths of winter.

Now he intends to ‘sit out’ the Kazakhstan winter, live in neighbouring Kyrgyzstan for a couple of months and then restart his round the world bid in the New Year.

Safe sex emoji

USA: Durex has launched a campaign calling for the world’s first official safe-sex emoji.

Ahead of World Aids Day on December 1, research revealed that emojis play a vital role in young people’s conversations around sex, with 80% of 16 to 25-year-olds finding it easier to express themselves using emojis and more than half of respondents regularly using emojis when discussing sex.

Some 84% of 16 to 25-year-olds said they feel more comfortable talking about sex using emojis.

Slippery when wet

USA: Police in Texas have safely removed a 1m snake that a woman discovered in her bath.

Officers said a woman called police to say her adult daughter had found a snake in her bath and needed help removing it. The daughter had called her mother after finding the snake. It was a rat snake, which is not venomous.

Authorities are unsure how or why the snake ended up coiled in the tub. Police said it was possible the snake was flooded from its habitat during recent storms, ended up in a drain line and wiggled its way up into the bath. The reptile was released in nearby woodland.

Roadside delivery

USA: An Arizona highway trooper pulled over a speeding driver but ended up helping a woman who gave birth in a car at the side of the road.

Courtney Benavidez said her grandmother was driving her to hospital but she was not able to make it, so they stopped on a highway near the town of Bisbee.

Department of public safety trooper Miguel Rincon said he ran to assist her after letting the speeding driver go. She gave birth to a boy in the car, and the officer handed her a blanket to wrap the baby in.

Ms Benavidez named her son Carter Jett after how quickly he was born. Ms Benavidez and her baby have been discharged from hospital and are both healthy.USA: A New Jersey man is facing charges after he allegedly threw a sandwich at another man at a pizza restaurant in northern Virginia.Jonathan M Magnes, 32, of Morristown, New Jersey, threw a sandwich at a 50-year-old man at a Fairfax pizza restaurant and then drove away, according to the Fairfax City police department.Authorities said the victim, who was not injured, tailed Magnes before officers arrived and pulled over the suspect. It is not clear what led to the dispute between the men. Magnes was charged with assault and battery, driving under the influence of alcohol and refusal of a blood and breath test.